Short masker gaps are bridged by postmasking effects

Evidence

For low modulation frequency (5 Hz) the temporal gap in the uniform masking noise is well resolved by the hearing system and the difference 6.L between the maximum and the minimum in the temporal masking pattern amounts to more than 30 dB. At higher modulation frequency (100 Hz), on the other hand, the level difference 6.L is significantly reduced in particular because of the effects of post masking. With some simplification it can be stated that short temporal gaps in a masker are “bridged” by post masking effects. — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 530

Categorization

• DEFINE: Explains the mechanism by which postmasking ‘bridges’ brief gaps in amplitude-modulated maskers, smoothing perceived level modulation.
• SEED: Angle for a piece on why MP3-style audio compression masking models exploit temporal smoothing of brief gaps.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Professor Dr.-Ing. Hugo Fastl, Professor Dr.-Ing. Eberhard, Psychoacoustics- Facts and Models, 530